Artist reveals all

Picture this: Stephen Harper casually reclines on a plush chaise lounge wearing a wry smile - and nothing else. A scruffy dog rests by his outstretched leg, while a woman among a group of hovering men serves the lumpy, hairy prime minister a Tim Hortons coffee.

It's called The Emperor Haute Couture, a painting by Miramichi-born artist, and Allisonian Maggie Sutherland that's received an avalanche of commentary since it made headlines last month.

Sutherland, self-described as a "social realist," credits her beginnings in New Brunswick for helping focus her artist's eye. "I wanted to learn anatomy and make people look right. I was really hung up on it. It was kind of an obsession for me," she said, recalling a suggestion by a Mount Allison art mentor that she sharpen her drawing skills.

In 1985, Sutherland enrolled at Mount Allison to study art. While she was most interested in classical, representational portraits, the school's Fine Art program was, at the time, geared toward abstract art. Though she left the university after two years, she credits printmaker David Silverberg's critique for pushing her to improve.

While she doesn't consider herself particularly political, she began the painting out of frustration with the government in late 2010. Harper didn't pose for the portrait, which Sutherland modelled after a 19th century work by French painter, Edouard Manet.

Public response to Sutherland's work has been both enormous and curiously polarizing, the artist says. While positive feedback dwarfs the negative, people either love it, or REALLY hate it.

The painting drew interest from potential purchasers all across the country. After a few low-ball offers, her dealer sold the piece for its $5,000 asking price to a man in Quebec.

To see the painting, ready the full story: Artist who painted Harper reveals all (Here Magazine)